Wine | Continental drift

“What a crock," I thought as I sipped a Jones ’09 marsanne and chatted with the winemaker, Mandy Jones.

Actually I was thinking: “Wow, what a croque monsieur."

I was enjoying the French bar staple with the equally delicious marsanne at Mandy’s winery cafe a couple of kilometres outside Rutherglen, in north-east Victoria.

Jones worked in Bordeaux, France, for many years before returning to the family winery, and so had plenty of time to perfect this classic ham and cheese sandwich.

She refused to give the recipe but confided: “Gruyère would be too expensive, but I use two cheeses, plus cream."

The complex ham within came from Morrison Street Butchers in Wodonga, a place I heard mentioned reverentially by many people during a recent visit to Victorian high and low country.

Jones’s winemaking sensibilities have also benefited from her time in France, if the styling of her marsanne is anything to go by.

“It gets natural ferment in oak of different sizes," she says. “And I used to fine it [add fines, or staves, of wood]. But I got away from doing that because I like the texture of the phenolics." Phenolics contribute a slightly chewy texture to the white wine.

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Her love and respect for the black grape variety malbec, grown in south-west France, has also increased. “It does well here in Rutherglen," she says.

These are exciting times for Rutherglen. There’s local and international appreciation for its intensely flavoured fortified wines made of muscat and muscadelle – the latter now dubbed Topaque – and “vintage port" styles, and increasing interest in its red and white full-bodied table wines.

This is especially so now the region is growing varieties better suited to the warm growing conditions – so-called Rhône varieties including the aforementioned marsanne, as well as viognier and roussanne.

Tim Gniel, winemaker at Campbells, known for its Merchant Prince muscat, has produced an absolute blinder of a roussanne from the 2010 vintage.

It’s full-bodied reds have been slowly refined by the new generation of winemakers coming through. Many of them now have a polish that makes them far easier to drink at an earlier stage.

It’s also exciting to experience the energy across the broader region. Within an hour’s radius you’ve got Rutherglen; Beechworth with its goldmining history and rich vein of winemaking, especially with chardonnay; and the Italian cultivar-inspired diversity of the King Valley.

Indeed there’s crossover between all three districts. At least one King Valley winemaker, John Gehrig, is making more wine in Rutherglen, while at least two Rutherglen winemakers are crafting wines in Beechworth.

There is also a diverse range of food offerings and a growing craft brewing scene.